JAKARTA - Spokesperson for the COVID-19 Vaccination of the Indonesian Ministry of Health, Siti Nadia Tarmizi, said that there were several types of new variants born due to the mutation of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that must be more vigilant.
"We must continue to be vigilant even though we have managed to get out of the second wave quite well. We know that 98 percent of the COVID-19 virus circulating in our country is a delta variant, but it does not rule out the emergence of new variants that have been detected, also in other countries," said Nadia, in an event entitled "Acceleration of Vaccination, Solutions Strictly Prevent New Viruses," which were monitored online in Jakarta, reported by Antara, Tuesday, September 14.
Nadia explained that the new type of variant that needs to be watched out for, has entered the variant of Interest (VOI) category. Some of these new variants, namely the lambda variant which has been reported by as many as 42 countries and the mu variant which has also been reported by 49 countries.
Furthermore, he said the variant that needs to be watched out for next is the C.1.2 variant which has already been reported to be detected in nine countries. However, to this day these variants cannot be classified, either in the category of variant of interest or variant of concern (VOC).
The new variant, he said, can attack anyone because it does not see the age limit of a person or a special population. This variant is also very susceptible to be transmitted to children.
“He can attack, starting from babies, toddlers, adults, even the elderly (elderly residents). We see that at this elderly age the risk becomes higher, even in people who have comorbidities (congenital diseases), as well as in children,” said Nadia.
He appealed to all citizens not to experience euphoria seeing the number of active cases in Indonesia starting to decline and as soon as possible to vaccinate themselves to be able to protect themselves from various types of variants that were detected in the Southeast Asia region.
Nadia said by vaccinating, a person can be protected from severe symptoms caused by COVID-19 and can also reduce the risk of death by up to 95 percent.
“This means that we should not then become euphoric with this condition, because we must remain vigilant. "Insufficient vaccination coverage means we need to always be disciplined in health protocols," he said.
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